Here in the southern hemisphere we are heading towards Spring and I cannot wait for the days to get longer and the temperature a bit warmer. As we have trudged through Winter we have had our share of coughs and flu's doing the grand circuit through the household. I am, as usual, the last person to go down with the flu and just back on my feet again after two days in bed. Of course, my husband is sure I (Moni) could not have had what he just had because he couldn't get out of bed for five days whereas I (Moni) seemed to be able to roll out of bed to collect the girls from school and to deal … [Read more...]
Scarcity vs. Sacrifice & (The One Week Closet Experiment) ~ Guest Post by Mohamed Tohami
We live in a world ruled by excessive consumerism. Everyday we receive hundreds of messages that try to make us feel incomplete. They try to sell us the idea that we don’t have enough stuff, so that we go buy more stuff to fill the void and be happy. These messages use the influence of scarcity to trigger your pains and fears. The question is: how can you protect yourself from the negative influence of the scarcity mentality. The answer lies in your ability to sacrifice. When you make a small sacrifice by getting rid of everything that doesn’t matter, by eliminating the unnecessary … [Read more...]
One Reader’s Declutter Story ~ By Anonymous
I sat in tears at a friend's home. Finally confessing to the state of my apartment. I said 'Have you seen that TV show 'Hoarders' well that's me!' I don't think they really believed me. On the outside I was always so well-groomed and professionally dressed, but inside I was an emotional mess. My friends offered to come around and help me ' tidy up'. But they had no idea as to the extent of the problem. I was so ashamed. Too ashamed to let them see how bad things were. My lovely two-bedroom apartment had become a one-bedroom disaster zone, where I needed to navigate every step just to get … [Read more...]
Under The Bed ~ Another guest post by Moni Gilbert
As a child I was quietly confident that if there was actually a bogey man, he definitely couldn’t live under my bed or in my wardrobe. My mum liked a tidy house, but any storage space that could be kept from eyesight was fair game. So my wardrobe had boxes stacked from the floor up until the hems of my clothes hit them, and up each side of the wardrobe and in the storage area above the hanging rack. Under my bed was tightly packed with yet more boxes containing goodness knew what but it wasn’t anything that belonged to me personally. I even have memories of boxes being jammed so tightly … [Read more...]
Just In Case ~ A guest post by Moni Gilbert
Due to a system error yesterday that didn't allow comments on this post I have chosen to repost it today in an attempt to fix the error and to give Moni the joy of responding to your thoughts on the subject. We’ve all said it. “I’ll keep it just in case I need it againâ€. That moment of hesitation where our de-cluttering confidence wanes and doubt creeps in and prevents us from parting with something that serves no functional purpose. Recently fellow 365'er Dizzy pushed me in the direction of a book called “Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui†by Karen Kingston, I bought it as an … [Read more...]
The Tea Chest Challenge ~ A guest post by Moni Gilbert
I love games that use imagination, so let’s play a game.  A friend of a friend, six times removed had the opportunity to move to an island on a two year volunteer construction project a few years ago, but there was a catch…..apart from their checked baggage and their carry-on luggage, they were only allowed one tea chest of belongings to be shipped in advance. They were given accommodation which included a table and chairs, a double bed and one set of drawers, a two seater sofa and a 14 inch tv, no DVD player.  The kitchen would have a stove/oven, basic toaster and electric jug, 2 … [Read more...]
Simple Saturday ~ A reader’s unusual declutter story
The following story was sent to me by Madeleine, one of our fellow long time 365ers from Guinea in Africa. I have written of many ways to decide whether to keep or let go of items in your home but this one is unique to say the least. Without further adieu please enjoy... Madeleine's Story A few months ago, I decided to check if I could declutter something from my kitchen, I looked at the ustensils, and asked myself : do I really use this thing ? I answered yes for everything, but a long wooden spoon. I decided not to take a quick decision, but to wait a few weeks, and see if I would use … [Read more...]
Simple Saturday ~ A guest post by Mohamed Tahomi
6 Simple Ways to Simplify Your Life Today A guest post by Mohamed Tahomi Simplicity is the path to simplicity! And that’s the beauty of simplicity. You can simplify your life by taking small simple quick actions that make a HUGE difference. Here are 6 simple ways to simplify your life: 1. Throw away what you’re worried about throwing away This is a very powerful decluttering tactic. We tend to fill our spaces with too many things that we don’t actually need. And the only reason we keep them is that we are worried about what would happen if we need them in the future. For example, … [Read more...]
Guest Post ~ Do you need more storage or less clutter?
A guest post by ~ Moni Gilbert So you’ve caught the de-clutter bug and you’re slashing your way through cupboards, corners, shelves, nooks and crannies. And while you can see big inroads with your work, you also realize that on your journey to organization and simplicity you have generated a lot of chaos, which wasn’t really the vision. When this happens, people quickly turn to storage systems to combat the disorder, and swiftly things begin to look neat and organized again. Peace prevails, sanity is restored. Storage solutions can be as simple as a utensil rack in the kitchen or extra … [Read more...]